The Parabola of Love
by ThatOneChickWhoWritesFanfic
Summary: The glove compartment isn't accurately named/And everybody knows it/So I'm proposing a swift orderly change/Cause behind its door there's nothing to keep my fingers warm/And all I find are souvenirs from better times/Before the gleam of your taillights fading east/To find yourself a better life. Maka is looking in her car and finds pictures from a relationship she tried to forget


This is a story I randomly wrote. It is SoMa, but a different kind. It's about what would have happened if Maka had let Soul go. It's a songfic to 'Title and Registration' by Death Cab for Cutie. I own neither Soul Eater nor the song.

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It was a rainy day, large drops falling from the sky almost in slow motion. Normally Maka would enjoy the rainy weather, sitting on her couch with a cup of tea, a great book and the radio playing softly in the background. Today, though, she cursed the rain. She had been digging through her drawers and filing cabinets and couldn't find a few key legal documents of hers anywhere. They were essential for her job application.

Many of her friends didn't expect Maka to stay in Death City after the defeat of the Kishin. In fact, everyone was surprised when she announced that she wasn't moving. Many thought it was because of her close ties to the city, but that wasn't the truth. The fact was, she couldn't bear to leave. All her memories of happier days rested within the city walls. If she left, it would be like erasing the last pieces of those memories she had left.

So Maka watched her friends leave her one by one for greener pastures. Black*Star and Tsubaki to Japan, Kid, Liz, and Patty to Brooklyn, and Crona to London. And Soul…

"Damnit!" she cursed as the tips of her fingers hit the back of the drawer. That was the last place in her small apartment where the documents could have been. She threw all of the dejected pieces of paper back in and slammed the drawer shut. She rose from her crouching position. She HAD to find the papers. This was the fourth job she had applied for in the month. Her dad was happy to help with rent, but in the end she knew she had to get a job.

After everyone had left the city, Maka's life toned down a lot. She couldn't find a weapon partner, so she decided to go to college to become an accountant. After she finished college, though, she had a hard time finding a job. Not many accountants were needed in Death City, bus she didn't dare think of leaving. She could get by, she always told herself. What would your friends think of you if you gave up? But to tell the truth, if her friends saw her now, she doubted they would even recognize her.

She had grown out her ash blond hair until it reached her waist. The shade of her hair slowly darkened also, as if a gauge for her happiness. It was now the color of mud, deep brown, flat, and lifeless. She had grown taller, her bust fuller. Her outfits had changed from a black trenchcoat, yellow t-shirt, and plaid skirt to a pair of worn jeans, a DWMA graduating class t-shirt, and a worn grey fleece. The only thing that stayed the same was her olive green eyes. She couldn't deny that she had let herself go, but she preferred to push the thought to the back of her head where she couldn't hear it.

"My car!" she exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. She remembered stuffing a few old resumes and her birth certificate in the glove compartment of her SUV. She glanced out the window. It was still pouring rain, but she needed the job. So she took last week's newspaper to shield her from the rain and ran out the door. She could hardly see, and as she fumbled with her keys she got thoroughly soaked. Finally the car opened and she collapsed into the passenger seat.

"Here we go, the glove compartment," she said to herself. As she flipped the latch, candy wrappers, gloves, and a pair of sunglasses fell into her lap. She brushed them aside and reached farther into the small compartment.

She pulled out a half used punch card for a car wash and tossed it to the back seat. A ruined pair of sandals joined them, along with a sheaf of paper that contained drawings and notes from a long forgotten road trip. The tips of her fingers brushed against a small bundle of papers and she grasped them triumphantly. Instead of the papers she needed though, she found she was gripping a bundle of photographs.

She stared at them in wonder. She had shoved the pictures to the back of her glove compartment in an attempt to bury the memories, guilty reminders of her less-than-perfect reality and the moment she let it slip away. Though it hurt, she couldn't help but flip through the pictures of that summer so many years ago.

_The glove compartment isn't accurately named_

_And everybody knows it_

_So I'm proposing a swift orderly change_

With a sense of curiosity she looked at the first few. It was a shot of her, Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki on a few beach towels, wearing crazy sunglasses and grinning madly with their arms draped over each other. The next was of Kid sobbing over a collapsed sand castle with Black*Star in the background. He had a stick gripped in his fist and his fingers over his lips in a "Shh..." motion. She chuckled and flipped to the next photo.

The sun shone brightly from the back of the scene. A blue lake was in the background. A grinning Soul had aviator sunglasses perched on his nose with a blue swim trunks and leather sandals on his feet. She was wearing a blue bandeau top with a sash tied over her swim bottoms, a wide brimmed straw hat on her head. Neither of them was facing the camera, though, because their lips were locked in a passionate kiss. She was sitting in his lap and his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. Liz, Patty, and Crona were in the background laughing and pointing to them, making hearts and kissing motions with their hands. If she thought hard enough, she could still remember how his arms felt around her waist, his lips on hers. It had been a long time ago, but she still missed him as much as she had that day when she watched the taillights of his motorcycle fading slowly away.

_Cause behind its door there's nothing to keep my fingers warm_

_And all I find are souvenirs from better times_

_Before the gleam of your taillights fading east_

_To find yourself a better life_

She remembered when Soul and her first became partners. They had avoided touching each other, except for fighting. Slowly, though, they would jokingly punch each other on the shoulder, and if their bodies brushed it was laughed off. The awkwardness had dissipated between them. Soon, as their battles got more intense and their injuries more profound, their bond strengthened. If their bodies brushed they would linger for a second before separating. So often before a battle they would grip hands. It didn't take long for then to realize their connection was more than between two partners.

When the next dance was held at the school, Soul asked Maka if she would go with him as his date.

She accepted, and they had been inseparable.

_I was searching for some legal document_

_As the rain beat down on the hood_

_When I stumbled upon pictures I tried to forget_

_And that's how this idea was drilled into my head_

She still remembered that summer, when their love had peaked. They were touching all the time, kissing every moment they could, and making love every night. They were smiling, laughing, and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. Anyone could plainly see their euphoria, especially their friends. So often they would tease them by making comments in one of the rare moments where they weren't together, saying "What happened to your other half?" or "Where did your reflection go?"

But, like the summer so plainly turned to fall, their love had changed.

_Cause it's too important_

_To stay the way it's been_

There came a night when, as Soul locked the door to the room they shared, she had requested that they just sleep that night. It hadn't seemed like an unusual request at the time, but each night their passion slowly dimmed until, when they had left the lake cabin, Maka moved back into her own room.

_There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade_

_And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all_

_And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide_

_Lying awake at night_

After the defeat of the Kishin, she and Soul had barely been kissing, and only holding hands before battles or when they watched horror movies together. Soul began hanging out with Black*Star more and more, until one day, he told Maka that, with Black*Star's help, he had recorded some piano/dubstep music he had written and it had gotten the attention of some music colleges. He had been accepted into a very prestigious college in New York, on a full-ride scholarship.

The thing was, she had been registering for a college in Nevada. She had been planning on staying here.

She still remembered Soul offering to take her with him.

"Maka, it would be no trouble. The college is practically paying me to go there. We don't have to be separated from each other. Think of how cool it would be."

That was when she had made her final mistake.

"Soul, the thing is…I can't. I already got accepted into a college here in Nevada."

A horrible lie, but a lie neverless. She could see the disappointment plastered on Soul's face, and could feel it plastered on hers too. She had cut the final tie binding them. They were in free fall now, no longer tied to each other. He didn't even bother waking her up when he left. She only just managed to wake up in time to see the taillights of his motorcycle fading eastward.

_There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade_

_And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all_

_And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide_

_Lying awake at night_

She shoved the pictures back into the glove compartment, curled up in the passenger seat, and cried.

It was what she called 'the parabola of love.' If you've ever seen a parabola on a graph, you know that it looks like an arch. When you start, there's nothing. It slowly rises until you're at the peak of your relationship. Then, the passion slowly fades until you're back where you started, like strangers with only memories in common.

She cried for the longest time, hating herself, the drops falling from her eyes matching pace with the ones falling outside. When she had cried all the tears her body would let her and then some, she grabbed the drawings she had pushed aside earlier and flipped them over.

There were the papers she was searching for.

She breathed a sigh of relief, looking through them to make sure they were all there. On the last page, which was some long-forgotten contact list, was a note written in the margin. She recognized Soul's handwriting instantly and couldn't stop herself from reading it.

_Maka, you're the best thing that ever happened to me. I love you more than words could ever say. Even if we separate one day and never see each other again I will never stop loving you. You are amazing. Love always, Soul_

The paper dropped slowly to the floor of the car as Maka curled up and started crying again, big heaving sobs that wracked her body.

That night, Maka cried herself to sleep like she did every night. The only difference was that this time, she was surrounded by memories she would've rather forgotten.

_Up all night_

_When I'm lying awake at night_

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Well, what did you think? Please tell me. I'm thinking that I may change this one-shot into a story, but only if I get enough response from reviewers. If I did continue, I would have a school reunion that would force Soul and Maka back into seeing each other again. If you would want it to be a story, just say so in a review. If you liked it as a one-shot, still leave a review! Thanks for reading! :)


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